Opinion: Will Obama’s War Plan Work?

Institute for the Study of War Research Director Jessica Lewis on the viability of the president’s military strategy to defeat ISIS. Photo credit: Associated Press.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... Pres Obama speech last night is being analyzed from every angle ... including the military angle ... is due for the Study of War Research Director Jessica Lewis joins me now to talk about that Jessica ... the presence as we alternately ... destroy a baby will do great in all to lead the story I saw ... what was planned achieve that goal ... mother ... describes several different components the mustard rector active which is US air support to a ground ... on approach to try to do exactly this destroyed Isis on the ground ... what I'm afraid is missing are two things number one and that the strategy of what actually ... causes ISIS in need to leave the city of Mosul and other cities and Syria or ISIS also controls ... and till the strategy that deals with the fact that I'm not sure there's actually a ground force in Iraq right now if if Iraqi security forces already Kurdish Peshmerga that's prepared to execute the ground component of that strategy what are those ground forces the Iraqis in the Kurdish forces what are they not prepared to do what they in capable of doing ... without us now ... well for one year one seems very clearly position to engage the Sunni tribes the Sunni population behind the ISIS control line ... when the places where this is going well isn't handy about ... an hour on bar province where Isis has been attempting to seize control of that city for quite some time but the tribes in that city and Iraqi security forces have together been fighting against ISIS and holding that line recently U S airstrikes have also moved out into western Iraq to support that effort ... but other places around Mosul around to treat ... around they see ... this same strategy would also need to succeed error which means the Iraqi security forces need to be able to engage the Sunni populations there ... and I don't see that connecting one instead for dealing with an existing and potentially rising Sunni insurgency alongside ISIS ... when present Obama is advisors separate to the media yesterday before the speech ... they made clear that they were not going to do what Bush didn't put one hundred thousand troops on the grounds ... of the number of ground forces when you need to execute the strategy the you just outlined are we talking about a couple special forces units for something much larger ... well for talking about U S forces in order to engage populations and the hundred thousand number to me as the strongman ... it wouldn't be that it would be something that is much more ... on stilts and I'm afraid I'm not prepared to offer a number but the point is that if there is going to be a strategy to build up the ground for isn't engaged population behind the ISIS line ... that was actually doesn't even before it in on the ground ... and that we and you need to consider what is actually required to execute the other half of that operation silly you be a precedent for Syria so we your judgment right now will the president's war plan as his work ... will it destroy axis ... now the air support to ground forces may succeed in disrupting Isis is such a degree that the ISIS campaign with an Iraq culminates ... with the strategy right now ... to engage ISIS and Syria only if ISIS projects he declared Brat against the U S Senate Arison capacity ... does not hold ... the ISIS offensive in Syria which is also ongoing and approaching Aleppo very quickly ... find it does not sufficiently provide for ground forces in Iraq or Syria that Walton only take back their cities ... okay so what work ... needs to